NEW DELHI: Asian Development (ADB) said today, April 24, that it committed USD 20.5 billion from its own resources in 2022 to help Asia and the Pacific continue its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic amid new economic headwinds and crises.

The financial and operational results published in ADB’s Annual Report 2022 highlighted how the  Multi-lateral funding agency, Asian Development Bank combined finance and knowledge, and leveraged partnerships to help the region cope with economic shocks exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a worsening food crisis, and extreme weather events.

"Our support in 2022 helped our developing member countries (DMCs) navigate the immediate impacts of these crises while strengthening their longer-term resilience in critical areas, such as climate change and food security," said ADB president Masatsugu Asakawa. The USD 20.5 billion was distributed to governments and the business sector as loans and guarantees, grants, equity investments, and technical support. Additional co-financing of USD 11.4 billion was mobilised, it said.

As part of its goal to provide USD 100 billion in total climate financing from 2019 to 2030, ADB provided USD 6.7 billion in financing for climate mitigation and adaptation in 2022.

It said that ADB contributed USD 3.7 billion under its USD 14 billion food security programme to address the region's escalating food crisis, providing crucial food support for those who need it most and bolstering food production systems.

It further said that ADB funded institutional reforms, improved public service delivery, and growth in significant economic sectors to assist economic recovery. The USD 3.9 billion loan pledges made by ADB to the private sector included crucial liquidity support for businesses struggling in a challenging economic climate.

In the meantime, ADB  said, it had made extensive investments in high-quality infrastructure as well as in fields like education, health, and other social areas that helped to strengthen the economy as a whole.

The bank added that initiatives to increase women's access to quality jobs, encourage women's entrepreneurship, and increase women's resilience to climate change were among the operations that contributed to this agenda, which it said would account for 97% of the bank's operations in 2022.

Details on how ADB is adjusting to better satisfy the complex and ever-changing demands of its DMCs are detailed in the Annual Report 2022. These include steps to increase the amount of funding available to support regional development through ongoing capital adequacy framework reviews at the bank as well as structural and nonstructural organisational reforms driven by a new operating model.

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